Obama Calls For Budget, Immigration Reform By Year's End

President Obama speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, on Thursday.

Charles Dharapak/AP

President Obama speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, on Thursday.

Charles Dharapak/AP

President Obama slammed the partisan standoff "spectacle" that he said had damaged the economy and America's international credibility and called on Congress to pass a comprehensive budget, immigration reform and a farm bill by year's end.

He praised "Democrats and responsible Republicans who came together" to pass a last-minute deal to reverse a partial government shutdown and narrowly avert the expiration of the federal borrowing authority.

"Let's be clear, there are no winners here," he said. "These last few weeks have inflicted completely unnecessary damage to our economy," he said.

"The American people are completely fed up with Washington," he added.

The president's remarks follow a 16-day hiatus in many government operations that he said had cost billions of dollars.

"There was no economic rationale for this," the president said of the shutdown.

"Today I want our people, our businesses and the rest of the world to know that our faith and credit remains unquestioned," the president said.

He called for a renewed, bipartisan effort to pass a comprehensive budget, fix the "broken" immigration system and get a farm bill passed.

"This can and should get done by the end of this year," he said.

Finally, he said he had a message for federal workers, who were either furloughed or kept working without pay: "Thank you. Thanks for your service. Welcome back. What you do is important. It matters."

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/10/17/236223833/obama-calls-for-budget-immigration-reform-by-years-end?ft=1&f=1006
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